El Tour de Tucson: Can GCN survive the largest bike race in America?

Every year in November, thousands of cyclists make the pilgrimage to Tucson, Arizona. Nestled in the far southwestern corner of the USA, near the Mexico border, it’s a city oasis in the Sonoran Desert, surrounded by Saguaro cacti and sky islands - unique mountain ranges that jut out of the desert landscape.

It’s also the perfect base from which to tackle one of America’s best and toughest climbs, Mount Lemmon, but that’s not why all of these cyclists make the journey, although we’re sure many take the opportunity to ride it while they’re there. Instead, over seven thousand participants arrive in this small corner of the USA for the El Tour de Tucson: the largest cycling race in the country.

• Read more: The world’s hardest hill climb: Can Ollie Bridgewood complete the Taiwan KOM Challenge?

A 102-mile epic, it’s a serious challenge which attracts some of the best amateur riders in the country, not to mention a smattering of former pros. The fastest riders often complete the course in less than four hours, which is comfortably over 40kph - that’s seriously rapid!

Here at GCN, our presenters love a challenge, so James ‘Hank’ Lowsley-Williams and Ollie Bridgewood decided to make the journey across to see if they could mix it with the best riders at the race.

Ollie arrived fresh off the back of a challenge-packed year in which he conquered the 1000km-long Tour des Stations Ultimate 1000, before finishing 26th out of over 1000 starters at the Taiwan KOM Challenge. Both of those were climb-orientated events, but that wouldn’t be of much use in Tucson, with under 1000m of climbing on the menu.

• Read more: Tour des Stations Ultimate 1000: Ollie Bridgewood's first ultra-endurance race

Hank, on the other hand, is a man for the flat and should have been more suited to the parcours, but could he deliver on that potential to deliver a result?

Watch the full video at the top of this page to find out.

Feeling inspired? Here at GCN, we’re constantly setting our presenters new challenges. You can explore all of them on the GCN website, linked here.